EU declines Russia's proposal to resume pork exports

Russia’s food safety agency said the European Union turned down requests to allow pork purchases from some of the countries that are unaffected by an outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF).

Italy, France, Belgium, Denmark, and the Netherlands are ready to provide bilateral pork-safety guarantees that would allow trade with those countries to resume, Russia's Rosselkhoznadzor agency said in a statement.

However, EU refused to resume exports only from part of its territory while a number of other countries - in the opinion of EU veterinary experts - are free of ASF and would not have the right to supply its pork to the territory of the Russian-lead Customs Union.

"All this delays a solution for resuming pork deliveries from European Union countries to Russia," Rosselkhoznadzor said. "Supplies from other areas are replacing European pork on the Russian market."

Rosselkhoznadzor issued the statement after its head, Sergei Dankvert, met with Romano Marabelli, chief veterinary officer of Italy's Department for Veterinary Public Health, Nutrition and Food Safety in Moscow.

Russian pork imports totaled 112,900 metric tonnes from the start of the year to May 5, down 34% from the same timeframe last year, the country's Agriculture Ministry recently reported.